Pleats & Puzzle Pieces
by Finnigan Geist
Summary: He liked finding all the ways they fit each other. Literati, a bit of saucy fun set mid/late season 3.


**Rating**: M, for horny teenagers and general stupidity.  
**Notes**: Dedicated to Prisc, without whom, this would not exist. Also, I'm tired and have been writing this as a form of stress relief, so I don't even have any idea what I did here. This is very long for being so useless (that's what she said).

* * *

**(pleats & puzzle pieces)**

Jess wasn't reading, which wasn't, in itself, especially noteworthy, except that he had his head buried in a book. It was all a clever ruse, one that he had cultivated over many years of getting people to leave him alone. It was the first day he had off both of his jobs in weeks, and he had arranged to meet Rory in the diner after she got out of school. Luke had an irritating habit of wanting Jess to work if he was in proximity, even if he had time off, so deception was necessary if he were to sit behind the counter and fend off Luke's attempts at getting him to serve customers. He situated himself behind the register at an angle that allowed him a view of the direction Rory would be coming from and propped a book in front of his face. This way, it looked to Luke like Jess was at least trying to help and was doing a bad job of it, when, in reality, he wasn't trying to help _and_ he wasn't even reading. Victory: Jess Mariano.

Luke passed behind him, grumbling loudly, and Jess flipped a page, furrowing his brow in apparent concentration. He even let his mouth hang open a little. In his peripheral vision, he saw Luke stop at his side, hands on his hips. Luke gestured to Jess and then to the register, where a customer was waiting. Jess tilted his head at the book he wasn't reading and rested his chin on his fist.

"Jess."

"Huh."

"Are you going to help?" Luke indicated the register a couple more times with quick jabs of his finger.

Jess pivoted his head to look at Luke and then at the customer. He scrunched his face up and turned his attention back to the book. "I wouldn't bet on it."

"_Jess_."

The corner of his mouth quirked up and he brought the book closer to his face. "Hang on," he drawled. "I just want to finish this sente-" The diner bell rang and he looked up to see Rory come through the door.

"I'm leaving," he announced, suddenly at attention, tucking his book into his back pocket and rounding the counter to meet her.

"Oh no," Luke deadpanned. "How will I get anything done without you here?"

"Hey, you're the one who gave me the day off," Jess said, hands raised defensively. Rory gave him a peck on the cheek. He tugged at her ponytail and kissed her forehead.

Luke sighed, tossing the order pad on the counter. "I hoped that maybe you'd use the time to study."

"You should have stipulated. Can't take it back now – Rory's here. You'd make her sad."

Luke looked vaguely disgusted. "You'd be sad not to spend time with him?" Rory swiveled her attention from Jess to Luke, sticking out her bottom lip and making the most pathetic baby rabbit eyes she could muster. Luke winced. "Fine, go."

"Thank you, Uncle Luke," Jess singsonged, putting his arm around Rory and guiding her out of the diner. He leaned close to her ear as they walked down the steps into the sidewalk. "I'm glad you finally learned how to use that pout for the forces of good."

"Well, you hardly ever have an entire afternoon off."

"So you do miss me?" he asked, pressing his lips to her temple.

"Yes, actually. You work a lot." She took hold of the hand he had draped over her shoulder, lacing their fingers together. Her other arm looped around his back, her hand resting on his hip.

"I'm industrious and motivated."

"When it comes to money."

He shrugged, defensive irritation prickling at the skin between his shoulder blades. He didn't want to argue. They really didn't get to see each other for significant blocks of time anymore, with her school work and his two jobs and intermittent school attendance. "So, what do you want to do now that you've got access to me? Movie?"

She tugged on his fingers. "It's Thursday."

"Yes it is."

"I have school tomorrow."

"So do I."

Rory snorted. "Well, I actually plan on being prepared for it. By doing my homework." His brow furrowed. It sounded like she was trying to get out of doing anything with him, but she'd been excited about today since he told her he had it completely free of work. She saw the look on his face and continued quickly, "I just don't have time for a movie is all. We could do something else."

"OK. What did you have in mind?"

She shrugged. "Nothing, really. I just want to get changed first, and then we can figure it out."

He turned to peer at her, which he thought was an impressive accomplishment when his face was about two inches from hers. She had to crane her neck back to look him in the eye. "What?" she asked. He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You're being vague. It's not like you to be vague, unless you're hiding something. You're hiding something." She opened her mouth to protest, but he continued, "What is it, a surprise get together with your entire extended family? Did your mom install a trap door inside your room that leads to the gates of hell, that will be triggered only by my DNA?"

"Jess," she groaned, butting her head against his chin. "Stop."

"Fine," he muttered, kissing the edge of her mouth, which curved upward. He moved across her cheek to her jaw, and her fingers wiggled between his. Pretty soon he wasn't thinking about their plans for the rest of the day, distracted by the soft curve of her neck. He trusted her to guide them in a straight line, fixing his attention on the feel and scent of her skin, not caring when she didn't warn him about an upcoming curb and he stumbled. He could feel her soft laughter traveling up her throat and vibrating against his lips. She squealed when he kissed behind her ear at her hairline, scrunching up her shoulder and pulling away.

"Ahahaha oh God that tickles!" She tried to lean out of his reach, but she kept her hold tight around his waist.

"Not supposed to tickle," he mumbled into her throat. "Supposed to _turn you on_."

She made a soft _pfft_ noise and bumped him lightly with her hip. He continued kissing under her jawline until she pushed lightly at his chest. "Jess, seriously!" He straightened with a sigh, arching an eyebrow at her.

"Don't give me that look," she said. "It's very distracting when you do that. Why is it that I always have to be the one to navigate, anyway? One of these days, _I_ should get to be the one who latches onto your neck like a lamprey and _you'll_ have to keep focused and get us safely from one destination to another."

"That'd never work," he said seriously, shaking his head, and she gave a little indignant scoff. "Trust me, Rory, I don't care that much about getting anywhere. If you did that to me, we'd just have to give up on going wherever we were headed. Thus, it naturally falls to you, the responsible one, to be in charge of walking."

"Because if I left it to you, we'd just stand in the spot where we started and make out all day."

"Yep. Or, you know. Other things."

Rory laughed loudly. "Really? In the middle of town?"

"Wherever you'd let me."

She was blushing but still smiling. "Well," she said, ducking her head, "I'm not quite ready for exhibitionism just yet. If you can wait until we get to my house, I promise I'll make it worth your while."

Jess snorted. "Great, so we can make out in front of your mom? I know you two are close, Rory, but that's where _I_ draw a line."

Rory smiled at him, a small inscrutable smile that spoke of things she knew and he didn't. He lifted his eyebrows at her questioningly, but she ignored him, turning her head forward. His interest piqued. Maybe they could duck out somewhere after Rory got most of her homework done. Lorelai would know, because she always knew, but she'd probably let them get away with no more than the disapproving _I'm on to you_ look she always fixed on Jess these days. He wanted to be irritated by it, but, if he was honest with himself, Lorelai was right. Jess had very naughty things on his mind, pretty much all of the time.

"Why are you looking so smug?" Rory asked, digging her fingers into his side.

He couldn't help smirking. "Do I look smug?"

Rory gave him an appraising look. "Frequently."

"Well," he snorted, spreading his hand out helplessly, "I don't know what to tell you, because I _feel_ so humble."

She scoffed. "Right. That's the vibe I usually get." She affected a deep, laid-back voice. "Jess Mariano. Humble. Cool. Only spends two hours working on his hair when he could spend upwards of three, but he doesn't. Because he's just that cool."

"All right, that's it," Jess said, leaning down to kiss her neck. She blocked his face with her hand and giggled and he tried to pull her around to get better access to her face, her neck, the little dip of exposed skin at her collarbone. They staggered haphazardly down the road like that, finally becoming aware of their surroundings when Rory stumbled and Jess almost fell over her. They held on to each other for support, Rory's fingers curled into his shirt at his waist, one of her thumbs hooked into his belt loop.

She glanced around, breathless. "Oh, home!" she cried, letting go of Jess to head down the path. He sighed and turned after her, scratching the back of his head and feeling acutely aware of all the places on his body that had been pressing up against Rory but weren't anymore.

She sort of jog-skipped through her yard and up the steps of the porch, her arms flapping oddly by her sides. He'd never seen anyone so abysmal at doing anything remotely related to physical exertion. As he walked after her, he noticed that the yard was empty. No car. No Lorelai. He looked up at Rory, who was waiting for him at the door with a look of triumph.

"I win!" she said, sounding a little giddy.

Jess studied her, smirking. He indicated the empty yard with a wave of his hand and raised his eyebrows. "No Lorelai?"

Rory scanned the yard as though noticing it herself for the first time. "Huh," she said lightly, and pushed through the door.

He watched her go in the house, mind racing. A lot of thoughts were running through his head, but the most important were: _Rory_, _house_, and _alone_. He practically sprinted up the steps after her, surprised that she was already in the kitchen by the time he got inside. She dropped her backpack and took off her Chilton sweater, tossing it into her bedroom. Jess lingered in the archway, watching her expectantly. She said nothing and wouldn't meet his eye. Very suspicious.

"How long is Lorelai going to be gone?" he asked, shuffling cautiously into the room, checking around corners as though expecting her to pop out and surprise him.

Rory circled around to the opposite side of the room so the table separated them. "For being alone in a house with your girlfriend, you seem awfully interested in my mother." She tugged the elastic band out of her hair, shaking her fingers through it casually.

Jess grabbed the back of a chair, leaning over it toward her. "Well, your mother's whereabouts and the duration of her absence have a direct bearing on what I do with my girlfriend in an empty house."

"Oh, you think so?"

He gave her a serious look. "Rory."

"You want a soda? I'm thirsty." She turned around and opened the refrigerator, sticking her head behind the door. Jess got the feeling she was laughing at him.

He couldn't quite figure out what was going on. She was being a lot more playful than usual, and he had it at about a fifty/fifty chance that either something terrible was going to befall him, or he was actually alone in a house with Rory for an afternoon. Banking on the latter, he decided to play along and pulled out the chair he was leaning on. He took the book out of his pocket and tossed it on the table, plopping down in the seat.

"Sure, I'll take something to drink."

Rory emerged with two soda cans and walked around the table to stand in front of him. She put both of their drinks on the table and crossed her hands behind her back. "And, since you were wondering," she said, "Mom has to stay at the inn tonight because of a big conference thing. She'll be there until at least seven. Happy birthday."

A slow smile spread across his face. "My birthday's not for months."

She swiveled her hips back and forth and shrugged. She still wouldn't quite meet his eyes. "Whoops."

Rory leaned down to kiss him, bringing her arms forward to hook her fingers in his collar. She tugged him, pulling his shoulders away from the back of the chair, and he responded gladly, gripping her waist with both hands. There was nothing playful here, just a heady lust that drove all thoughts from his mind except for Rory – her smell, her lips, the crisp crinkle of her school shirt between his fingers.

She pulled back, exerting just enough pressure against his chest to let him know that he was supposed to let her break the kiss, and she lingered there, close enough that he could easily tilt in and drag his tongue over her bottom lip. She studied his face closely, searching for something, he guessed, but he didn't know what and his mind was buzzing too pleasantly to care. After a moment of just watching each other, he was ready to dip his head and kiss her again, but she straightened, keeping her hands fisted in his shirt.

She put her knee on the chair, just next to his leg, and he cocked his head at her. She mirrored his tilt of the head, mouth crooking upward in a self-conscious smirk, and brought her other leg up to rest on the chair so she was kneeling over him. Jess grinned at her, dragging his hands down to the small of her back and pulling her closer. She scooted forward until she was fully straddling him, her knees bumping the back of the chair and just her feet dangling over the edge of the seat.

Jess laughed, feeling almost elated with surprise at her boldness. He had no idea what the hell was going on, but he wasn't about to question it, so he kissed her. She brought her hands up to cup his face, curling her fingers over his ears and then spreading them into his hair. He worked down her chin to her jaw and neck, lingering at the base of her throat.

"Miss Gilmore," Jess murmured against her collarbone, "sitting in the lap of a delinquent? This town has come to expect better from you, and, as such, the board is issuing you a citation. For unsanctioned use of Jess Mariano as a chair."

Rory laughed, quiet and hot in the hollow of his ear, twining her fingers in his hair at the base of his skull. "Jess," she said, lips pulling at his earlobe, "the only times you ever talk too much are exactly the times I'd rather you shut up entirely."

"Another citation," he said, because he couldn't help himself, because he was an ass, "for being _saucy_."

Rory sat back, looking him directly in the eye, and for a second Jess worried that he might have actually pissed her off. "Shh," she commanded, and set to work keeping him quiet by covering his mouth with her own.

He found the top button of her shirt and undid it, sliding his fingers inside to tickle the warm skin just below her collar. He plucked open three more buttons, not doing more than brushing his hands lightly over the exposed skin. She sucked his bottom lip between her teeth, biting him lightly. His fingers slid down her body to rest on the tops of her thighs, and he ran the heels of his hands up her leg, bunching her skirt to her hips. This was where she would stop him, he thought, she would pull away and say his name softly and he would return to safe territory, although, he thought with a private smirk, he was good at making anything dangerous.

She didn't react the way he expected, though. She shifted, breathing in sharply, and pushed up, pressing her hipbones into his palms. He felt a little lightheaded, the result of surprise and most of the blood draining from his brain to his crotch. He groaned into her mouth and dipped his hands under the hem of her skirt, rubbing against the soft cotton of her panties.

Rory's mouth slid left of his, lips and tongue leaving a wet trail on his cheek as she whispered his name shakily. He took that as an invitation to go further, and he dug his fingers into the curve of her ass, running his thumbs over the sharp jut of her hipbones. She kissed his jaw sloppily with trembling lips, working her way down to his neck. Jess cracked his eyes open, tilting his head back to grant her better access, and watched the ceiling blearily.

"Well played," he slurred. "Now _you_ are the lamprey."

He could feel her smile against his neck and the warm brush of air that was her laughter. "And now I see," she said, her voice muffled and quivery, "just how useless you would be if I did this to you while we were walking down the street."

He wanted to say something witty, but all he could think about was that if she ever kissed him like this in public, even if it were in the middle of the diner and her mother was feet away, they wouldn't go any farther than the floor. So he just said, "Huh," lightly, and let his eyes drift shut.

This was maybe the first time he could remember her taking any kind of initiative, apart from their impulsive first kiss, which was something of a bittersweet memory. She wasn't generally shy about physical contact, not since they'd gotten over the initial awkwardness long ago, and she was very receptive to his exploration, but she didn't explore in turn. She didn't bring him over to her empty house and straddle him. And she certainly didn't sway her hips back and forth while she was sitting in his lap, rubbing a tentative rhythm against the fly of his jeans.

She couldn't be aware that she was doing it, because, as far as he knew, she really did like him, and would rather not see him die from a fit of boner-induced apoplexy. But then her knees pressed in, clamping tight around his hips, and he wondered if maybe his girlfriend was evil or just sending him signals that she was ready to do more than they had. His mind was flooded with images he didn't let himself entertain except in his quietest, most private moments that came all too rarely – fuck Luke for renovating the apartment but not giving him any walls so he could jerk off in peace – and a weak, high-pitched noise escaped his dry throat. He flicked at the elastic on her panties with his thumbnails. It would be so easy, he thought. It was vivid in his imagination – all he had to do was unbutton, unzip, and move aside two inches of cotton.

But they hadn't talked about it and he knew, in one small rational part of his brain that was still functioning, that it would be too much too fast. Even if she wanted to, even if she suggested it, it was too big of a leap from their relatively innocent fumblings to sex. He refused to be something she regretted. Apart from which, he didn't have any condoms on him, fuckity _fuck_.

With enormous regret, he let go of that fantasy, and turned his attention instead to something that was workable. She was obviously feeling adventurous, and, at some point, had decided she wanted to do the sort of things that might happen between teenagers who had a house to themselves without giving him an indication that she had come to that decision. At least, he thought, brow furrowed, not as far as he was aware. He straightened, poking gently at Rory's ass to get her attention away from his neck. She sat back and gave him an annoyed look that almost made him laugh. He tucked just the tips of his thumbs under the elastic at the top of her thighs and stroked the flesh there, running down the joints where her legs met her pelvis. He lifted his eyebrows. "I have an idea," he said playfully, quietly.

Rory's eyebrows drew together instantly, her breathing shallow and quick. "I," she paused, "I was planning actually on maybe doing something else?" Her voice increased in pitch with every word, so by the time she reached the end of the sentence she sounded comically childlike. Jess laughed, almost dizzy with distraction. Trust Rory to _make plans_ about this sort of thing.

"All right, what were you thinking?"

She looked away, fingers clutching his shirt. She glanced back at him and then down at their laps, embarrassed. "Um. Just…" she trailed off and dragged her hand around his waist, trailing her fingertips lightly over the bulge in his pants. He thought he might have gone crosseyed. She looked at him from under her eyelashes. "Not, you know, _everything_, but we've been dating for a while and I've never… I've never…." She huffed and frowned. "You have done some very nice things," she said, "that I've never …had done before. And I was thinking, I've never… had done anything like that for you." She titled her face up to look him straight on, expression terrified. Her thumb was pressing against the button of his fly and he was going to _explode_. Metaphorically and possibly also in his pants, which would be a pretty inauspicious end to something that started with such promise.

He wondered dimly what she meant when she said he'd done very nice things – in his opinion, he'd hardly done anything, and he knew she'd never reached orgasm with him. He snorted mentally. And if not with him, then not at all. It seemed to him a very good idea to fix that problem. Not just a good idea, possibly genius. And Lorelai was going to be gone for a while, and they had the whole house and plenty of time for her to try out her plan. He swallowed hard, trying to figure out what she might have in mind. Everything he pictured further deadened his higher mental faculties, and he muzzily wondered what the hell he'd ever done in his life to deserve this, this girl in his lap whose body fit up against his like it was meant to be there, like they were connecting puzzle pieces.

"Rory, you don't _owe _me anything." She opened her mouth and he cut in, "Which is not to say that I don't want you to do … whatever it is you're planning on doing. But we can do both." He slid his hands completely inside her panties, running his palms from her hips to her ass, giving a little squeeze. "It's all about taking turns."

She stared at him with wide eyes and he saw her throat work spasmodically. He could imagine the pro/con list she was writing in her head. _Pros: it'll be fucking fantastic. Cons: none_. Well, maybe that was _his_ pro/con list. He didn't have enough blood getting to his brain to do better.

"OK," she breathed. He couldn't help the wide grin that spread across his face.

"OK," he agreed. "Here." He guided her up so she was kneeling over his lap and extracted his hands from her underwear. She grabbed his shoulders, nails digging little furrows high on his back. With his left hand, he gripped her hip firmly, supporting her. His right hand traced across her belly, over her bunched skirt, down between her thighs, and he cupped her over her panties. She was staring down at him with wide eyes, mouth slightly open and breath coming out in hot little puffs.

He stroked her softly with two fingers. "It's OK," he murmured. She nodded and shifted, leaning forward to rest her head against his neck.

"Hey, wait," he said, and she pulled back to look at him.

"What?" she asked, voice barely there.

Jess' eyes tracked over her face, from her parted lips to her dilated pupils and the sweat forming at her hairline. He cleared his throat. "I want to see you."

She made a high, squeaky noise at the back of her throat, so he placed a soft, chaste kiss high on her neck. He settled back in the chair, half-reclining, half-slouching, so he was looking up at her. Rory licked her lips and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. As he added a little pressure to the strokes between her thighs, he could feel her legs trembling around him. He used his left hand to guide her hips, rocking them back and forth in a gentle sway in counterpoint to the rhythm of his right. She rolled her wrists against his shoulders, pulling up fistfuls of his shirt, and whispered, "Jess."

Jess used his pinkie to push aside her underwear and slid his fingers inside. She tensed around him and bit her lip, brow furrowing. He stroked slowly, intent on her face. She looked deep in concentration, but not necessarily enjoying herself.

He rubbed her hip to get her attention but she didn't seem to notice. "Rory."

She opened her eyes blearily, lip curled in annoyance. "What?"

"Are you all right?"

Rory frowned and squirmed against his hand. "Just – wait – there." Her face scrunched up and he paused. "What are you doing?" she muttered. "Move."

He snorted and complied, starting off gently until, with little shifts and different angles, he found a rhythm that worked for her. Her face relaxed and she made a low, long sound of approval. Jess leaned forward a little and kissed her chest, right at the soft swell of her breast, and she moaned loudly. He dragged his tongue across her skin, following the edge of her bra cup down between her breasts. Breathing her in, smelling soapy and sweaty and musky, Jess thought this might be a nice place to spend the rest of his life. He kissed her again and sighed, feeling his breath reflected back on him off of her chest. She was moving her hips on her own, now, and he settled back in his chair to watch her.

Rory was beautiful. She always was, her features almost unnaturally perfect, but like this, she was glorious. Her face was flushed, eyes closed tight, and long strands of her hair were sticking to her sweaty cheeks. Her open shirt left her chest exposed, and he watched the rise and fall of her breastbone as she took in sharp panting breaths. Nobody else got to see her like this. No one ever had before, and this was all his, his doing, his memory forever, her first forever.

Her eyes snapped open and she looked at him blindly, her jaw hanging low as she struggled to breathe, and then she cried out, her eyes squeezing shut again. Her body was completely taught, her knees clamping around his legs and her fists pressing into his shoulders, and her only movement was the sharp, rapid rolling of her hips and her muscles contracting around him. Jess thought it was possible he'd never been so aroused in his life.

Rory came back to herself little by little, muscles relaxing, though she was still gasping for air. She leaned down and kissed him harshly, opening his jaw wide with the push of her lips, uttering little helpless noises into his mouth. Some of her hair was caught between their lips but Jess didn't care, just curled his tongue around it. He supported her with both hands as the spasms of her muscles died down, still stroking her gently, slowly, until her hips stopped jerking. Jess slid his hand out from her panties and rubbed his knuckles against her thigh, which was still quaking.

Rory broke contact, moving just far enough away to look into his eyes, panting. Jess smiled and brushed his thumb over her hip, feeling like just about the greatest motherfucking son of a bitch in the world. Rory couldn't find her voice; she got out the first part of his name, a guttural little "Juh-" before trailing off and leaning in to kiss him again. Her fingers started on his belt and she had it unbuckled when he grasped her wrists gently. She pulled back and looked at him, eyes dilated and confused.

"Jess?"

He took a deep breath. "Just give me a minute," he said. She nodded and he let go of her to run his hands up her arms and shoulders to her neck. She leaned in again and kissed him.

Rory pressed her hands against his chest, her fingers spread out over his pectorals. She trailed her palms down his body to his stomach, resting on the top of his jeans, and his muscles spasmed in response to her touch. He groaned and moved his hands to cup the base of her skull. She snaked her fingers under the hem of his shirt, tracing cold fingertips low across his abdomen, curling over the waistband of his pants. She rubbed little circles in the coarse hair below his belly button and he knew this wasn't going to calm his arousal into something more manageable, but he didn't care, couldn't care.

Before he realized what she was doing, Rory unbuttoned and unzipped his fly and was reaching her hand into his boxers. All his muscles locked up as her fingers curled around him, lungs seizing as he tried to gasp for air.

"_Rory_," he wheezed, hands clenching into involuntary fists in her hair. She was already moving, though, stroking him firmly, and he felt the sudden pressure of oncoming release within seconds.

He lurched as he came and Rory jumped in surprise. "Oh!" She jerked her hand away, making the waistband of his boxers hit his stomach with a snap. "_Ohh_," she groaned, staring at her fingers, which were sticky with the evidence of his climax.

He stared, too, humiliated and disbelieving. And a little pissed off. He squeezed his eyes shut and released his hold in her hair with deliberate slowness, exhaling harshly. He concentrated on breathing in and out, and on his stuttering heartbeat. Any pride he had been nurturing shriveled up into a sad little husk. Fuck, he felt like he was thirteen.

"That was fast," Rory said quietly.

Jess cracked his eyes open to scowl at her. He bit his lips, holding back a scathing reply that really wouldn't help the situation.

Her eyebrows ticked upward. "Whoops?" Her voice was quiet and meek and her expression so helpless that he couldn't keep in a snort of laughter.

He groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Ahhhh, Rory. For future reference, if I ask you to wait, it's not out of chivalry." He sighed and blinked rapidly, profoundly disappointed in what had been a great buildup to one hell of an anti-climax, ha ha. And more than anything, he hated feeling stupid in front of Rory.

She smiled with the corner of her mouth. "Noted." She glanced down at her hand again, still suspended in the air between them, and back at him. Rory dropped her head and sat back heavily on his knees. "Oh, I'm sorry," she moaned.

"What?" Jess looped his arms around her waist, dragging his fingers softly up and down her spine.

"I screwed it up," she whined, thumping her fist against her thigh. Her face scrunched and she rolled her head back. "Oh my God! I'm the worst girlfriend!"

Jess set aside what was left of his aggravation and jostled her gently to get her attention. "Hey, Rory, it's OK. You didn't screw up. You got what's generally considered the desired result."

"But it was too quick and I didn't listen to you because I thought I'd lose my nerve if I waited and I wanted to do this right!" She made a move to cover her face with her hands, but remembered her soiled fingers when they were millimeters from her skin. She pulled her head back, staring at her hand with a horrified expression. Jess laughed, harder than he intended.

"Hey!" She pouted and tugged at the bottom of her shirt, but Jess kept laughing and, after a moment, she did, too, in reluctant little chuffs. She tucked her hair behind her ear with her clean hand, smiling shyly.

As Jess' blood flow redirected itself to important places like his brain, he started to feel curious about how Rory had decided she'd wanted to jerk him off. He wondered if she'd done research for it, if she'd read magazines or asked those frightening girls at her school for pointers. Books, if they were available, were the most likely, followed by internet searches. He wanted to sneak onto her computer and check her Google activity. Rory noticed the look on his face and frowned, suspicious.

"What?" she asked warily.

He shook his head and pulled a piece of hair away from her face. "Nothing."

She tilted her head, brow furrowing. "I don't believe you."

He smirked at her, raising an eyebrow. "How long have you been thinking about doing this?"

Rory ducked her head. "I – I don't know," she stammered. "I haven't."

"Did you do research?" She looked up at that, eyes wide, and he laughed again. "You did! What did you do? Did you go to the library? Get anatomy textbooks? A _Cosmo_? Download dirty movies?"

"Shut up! I didn't!" He tilted his head back and laughed at the ceiling. "Jess!" She punched his chest and her sharp little knuckles actually hurt.

"Ow, hey. Come here," he said, cupping her jaw and drawing her face to his. He kissed her softly, stroking his thumb across her cheek. "You didn't do it wrong, Rory." He shrugged. "You're inexperienced. Trust me, we have plenty of time to get you to a pro level."

Her eyebrows quirked, her expression hovering between amusement and annoyance. "Oh, yes?"

He affected a grave demeanor. "I _promise_."

"You're very optimistic."

Jess nodded. "I am generally known for my optimism and my sunny disposition."

Rory chuckled and rested her forehead against his, rolling it back and forth slightly in a sort of nuzzle. "That was very nice," she whispered.

"Very nice," he repeated, amused.

She snorted, glancing at him from under her eyelashes shyly. "Yes. Thank you."

Jess felt his sad, shattered pride stirring. He ran his thumb over her chin, then touched it to her lips. "Miss Gilmore, you're welcome."

Rory smiled and kissed him again, laughing softly, and he marveled at how comfortable he felt with her. In spite of a regrettable end to his own arousal, he was already chalking up the afternoon as a success. He had been pretty great, he thought, and they were taking steps together that he hadn't seriously been entertaining a hope of. And he liked discovering all the ways they fit each other. The way she fit just so tucked under his arm when they walked together, the way her thighs pressed snug around his waist, the way his cupped palms were exactly right to cradle her hips. The way he or she could bring up just about any obscure subject and the other would understand, would smile knowingly. The way they were both unembarrassed, disheveled and her with her skirt bunched around her waist and him half hanging out of his pants and they were laughing into each other's mouths. Or the way he was certain he knew her, the way he worried she knew him. His hands curled into the rumpled pleats of her skirt and he figured there were infinite ways for their limbs to fit together, to intertwine, to collapse together, and he was determined to find them all.

end


End file.
